860 
FOREST AND STREAM 
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US 
INCORPORATED 
GOLDSMITHS 
NEWARK. N. J. 
September 
Eighth, 
Nineteen fifteen 
Ashav/ay Line & Twine Mfg. Co., 
Ashaway, R. I. 
Gentlemen:- 
For over twenty years I have been per¬ 
mitted to enjoy that noble sport of surf casting along the 
Jersey shore, which while not alone difficult is probably 
the greatest test for a fishing line that can possibly ex¬ 
ist, as we used a 4 ounce lead and cast same directly over 
the surf. I have always used every effort to have the best 
line obtainable, but it was only within the last few years 
that I came across your 24 thread special, which I consider 
has no superiors and few if any equals. I have taken fish 
up to 42-l/2.pounds on the above line and would feel just as 
safe if he weighed twice as much. 
Wishing you continued success in your 
product, which you justly deserve, I am. 
Very truly yours, 
Dic/M.S. 
W 
Selecting the Youngster 
Sometimes the Most Beautiful Pointer or Setter is Not the Best for 
Actual Field Service 
By Sure Shot. 
It is no great wonder, when we come to con¬ 
sider the cause, why so many err in securing the 
material in which to inculcate lessons for future 
field work. It all lies in choosing the young¬ 
ster ; for too many are lured into selecting the 
get of an illustrious field trial sire from his repu¬ 
tation, and pass aside the progeny of a dog 
whose bird sense has been proven by experience, 
but has never come under the glare of a judge’s 
eye. 
The law of like producing like is the true 
reason of failure; for the unqualified belief in 
it held by many, leads them along lines with 
which they are not familiar. A winning field- 
trial dog may display the highest of class—such 
as the meaning of class is construed—and yet 
fall short in what constitutes the ideal shooting 
dog; the shooting dog that conforms to your 
hunting country and secures for you the best 
results on game. 
The field trial requirements subject almost 
everything associated with the bird dog to class; 
without class, and the word is somewhat flexible 
in its meaning, a dog of great natural field abil¬ 
ity can perform miracles in bird-work, yet fall 
short of trial winning powers. The breeding 
for the trials has to a great extent been followed 
on speed lines, even to intense inbreeding for 
it. The youngster is first tried out for the quali¬ 
fications speed and range, before serious atten¬ 
tion is paid to his natural bird sense. This pro¬ 
cedure having been followed for generations, 
has developed in the field trial dog a hunting 
instinct that frequently appears long before any 
indications of bird sense or the pointing instinct 
are apparent. Many a youngster from parents 
of this kind, is cast aside, when it is possible 
that by proper handling at the right moment 
and time allowed for the development of its 
pointing instinct it would have performed up to 
the expectations of its owner. 
It is not to be forgotten that both the field 
trial man and the bench show contestant have 
committed faults: the first has bred for speed 
and range to intensity, and the second mentioned, 
has permitted his hobby to run to the belief, that 
conformation is the sole object to be aimed at. 
It is easy to see how bird sense can be ne¬ 
glected in breeding the bench dog, where con¬ 
formation of a particular type is aimed at. The 
breeder has but one object in view; and that is 
to produce offspring which will conform to 
bench ideals, to such a degree, that dogs of rare 
field excellence are entirely overlooked as sires, 
and a good-looker, irrespective of his abilities 
on game, substituted to perpetuate a type which 
the bench show enthusiast insists upon. 
By this allusion, the inference must not be 
immediately drawn that every bench dog is un¬ 
worthy of a trial as a shooting dog prospect. 
On the contrary, many bench dogs are excellent 
field workers; but as a class they have fallen 
short of what the real bird dog should be. 
Truly, beauty and ability appear easy to obtain; 
but so far it has been secured only in the few 
individuals rather than in a class. 
A field trial dog can by judicious cutting of 
his range be developed into a satisfactory shoot¬ 
ing dog, but as long as he is being run as a trial 
dog, to the ordinary man who cares to hunt out 
his scattered covies well, he is of little benefit. 
But the perfect gun dog can never aspire to 
trial honors. However, a few dogs have stepped 
over the impossible; some that have been used 
as shooting dogs in their early career have later 
been found among the winning trialers. Though 
the number has been very limited; in every in¬ 
stance they were southern dogs, accustomed to 
range wide from their handler on horseback and 
little had been ever done to curtail their natural 
wide-going inclinations to get out and hustle of 
their own sweet will. 
The tyro should be advised while selecting a 
pointer or setter for field use; that he avoid, to 
a great extent, puppies from field trial sires 
whose performance on game is unknown to him, 
and instead for his shooting give preference to 
the get of a shooting dog that has proven con¬ 
clusively his worth on game. Unfortunately, we 
have only the reports of the public exhibitions 
of the trial dog to gauge what is to be expected 
in the progeny. The highly-sounding title of a 
Champion induces us to pay astounding prices 
for his get. And many are deluded into deceiv¬ 
ing themselves, that youngsters from high-class 
trial dogs are just what they need, when, on the' 
contrary, their personal opinions of what consti¬ 
tutes a bird dog and their shooting conditions 
demand a dog of an entirely different tempera¬ 
ment. Therefore, if we have only public accom¬ 
plishments to form our judgment with, the buyer 
should choose youngsters from sires that have 
made good in competition not only by their 
spectacular dash and range, but by their bird- 
work and natural bird-sense; and, the dog that 
has won distinction by these desirable accom¬ 
plishments is almost certain to transmit it to his 
offspring. 
